Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-04

spice of a tourists life. we closed the
bargain at three shiliings for the round
trim. The first camel brought forward
and GOT into position for mounting was
for Mrs. S. At first she was AFRAID the
camel would bite her, but being assured
that he was as harmless as above, she ut
last plucked up courage and took her
seat, being hidden TO hold ON tight 10
the handles of the saddle. The camel
makes a pyramid of himself as he rises
ON his hind feet first. that pitches her
over on his neck. Then as he brings his
fore legs to the perpendicular she settles
back and feels at home. The dismount-
ing is even worse, but the excruciatlng
gate of the bumped backed animal Is the
worst of all. POLITICALLY he Is described
as the ship of the desert. To my mind
after single test, l can compare him
only to a ship in a storm. | mounted
with the same grace and elegance of my
better half, and the caravan began TO
move. thought if l only had an extra
hinge in nv back, could endure the
torturing gait for perhaps a mile. My
wife said hers rode easy, and then l be-
gan to suspect that | was on freight
camel.
We viewed the Sphinx and the temple
of red granite blocks from our exalted
position, and as the features of the
Sphinx are as familiar 10 every school
boy as those of G.. Washington l Will
not attempt description, further than
to rerlind YOU that when cleared of sand
this colossal figure with the head of a
man and the body of a recumbent hon
looms up to the height of So feet with a
breadth of face measuring is
feet and a nose, before the ICON
oclast got in his work projecting
over five feet. The temple is the work
of Chepren, who built the second pyra-
mid, and he was successor i'll the line OF
monarchs TO Cheops. This concluded
our delightful visit TO the pyramids OF
Gizeh. The next day we took the train
and rode for forty minutes TO the station
of BedreScheiD, where we mounted the
little donkeys brought with us in a cal
from Cairo. and followed the meander-
ings of an embanlzment for couple OF
miles, which brought us to the spot
where the colossal statue Of RaneSes III.
had but recently been eXhumed by al
English officer from the sands OF the
desert. There is in fact two statues OF
Rameses the Great here, one carved out
of a solid block of limestone, and the
other and much finer one of red granite
The former but less artistic, was pre-
scented as it lay on its face IN the sands
to the British museum some years ago
but in consequence of Its great weight
they have never made the attempt to re
move ii. The one in red granite Is en-
closed by wall and a fee is eXacted tC
obtain a view of it. 1t is in a reclining
position. the legs having been broker
off and measured when intact, | shoulc
Judge. fifty feet in length and six o.
eight feet across the face. Whilst not o.
as huge proportions us the sphinx, 1t Il
a much finer work of art. The wife o.
the officer who has the credit of raising
this mammoth statue from where 1t lay
twenty feet beneath the sands, has pre-
scented me with photograph of it, a.
none were obtainabIe in Cairo-only
copies of the limestone statue as it la!
on its face for many years.
Near by is the site of the ancient
city of Memphis, once the mos
populous city in the world
Its public buildings only were con
structed of stone. and this material wa
transported elsewhere to build othe
cities. so that now, whilst the sundrieC
bricks of Nile mud still retain in some
degree their shape, and the evidence
that a vast city once existed here 4
quite plain. There is nothing 10 indicate
the spot where Memphis stood, excep
heaps of rubbish. This most ancient %
all the cities of Egypt of which history
gives any account. was founded 10y
Menes more than five thousand sever
hundred years ago, or within less thai
three hundred years of the period a
signed, but now generally cOnsidere,
/ erroneous to the creation of man.
Leaving the rubbish heaps OF the de
! funct city, we push on for distance o
three miles and reach the great stel
I Pyramid. which differs from all other
in being somewhat oblong, and not stand
ing squarely facing the different points O
/ the compass. IL consists Of six step
/ each one over 80 feet in height. Tn
stones are not so large as in Cheops an'
have disintegrated much more. The en-
I trance was closed up, and so we contin
ued the Journey TO the buryinS groun'
/ of Memphis region so vast in anclen
( tOmbs all cut in the rock. and when ex
4 plored so replete with curiOsities as L
! constitute the metropolis calIe'
/ Sakkara. the most wonderful
subterranean area in the known
/ world. For ages these tombs. now GOV
cred for the most part with the shiftini
sands of the desert, have yielded
rich harvest Of relics 10 every explore
who has had the perseverance 20 cOur
success. and yet the supply Is not eX
/ hausted. The only signs of life visibl
/ Is a solitary house in the sands built b
/ the great explorer Marietta Bey, wher
/ the custodian Of certain toInbs, take
( possession of by the government
leads lonely life, and wher
tourists. if at all provident, cor
sumo the lunch they have brought wit
] them.
We first descended to the t0mbs Of ID
sacred bulls. apis and were couducte
through wide. lofty passageways cut fo
probably 500 fest i1tO the SOLID rocE
Here were thirty-One chambers eac
containing complete grant
sarcophagus Of exquisite worlSmausnl
and large enough 10 contain the remain
/ of the sacred bull when niumnied. IA a
/ upright position. | ciined INTO one .
aid OF d ladder. where the cover had bee
partially removed, at sides were q
A. smooth as polished marble. + was.
should Judge, six feet high. SIX feet wid
4 and twelve feet long. ard weighs man.
tons. Afterwards we entered kind Of
temple. and BY the light 0f a candl
traced on the four walls 81 large rooT
the illustrated history OF the carly EgyI
tians u b2s-rehef. Some Of the figure
being painted, ard the whole Just q
perfect a. though il had been tbs wor
OF Yesterday. After lunch we locke
the field over for relics and then r
mounted the donkeys for tho raiiws
station. We took the first train, TIA